During the manufacture of a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), a ultraviolet (UV) mask (also called as a mask plate) is mainly used to shield, in a protective manner, an area where liquid crystals are located in the course of photocuring a sealant and removing an alignment film at a periphery of an active area. This is because, the liquid crystal, as an organic compound, may be pyrolyzed due to the irradiation of strong UV rays. After a short time period of irradiation, an electrical resistivity of the liquid crystal may decrease, and after a long time period of irradiation, the liquid crystal may turn yellow, so a display effect may be adversely affected.
In the related art, usually the UV mask with a certain size is manufactured in accordance with a size of a display panel. FIG. 1 shows a conventional UV mask, where the UV mask includes a black light-shielding area and a grid-like light-transmitting area. However, during the manufacture of display screens, with respect to the display panels with different sizes, it is necessary to manually replace the UV masks with different sizes, resulting in a waste of time. In addition, during the replacement, the UV mask may easily be broken. The UV mask is fixed through suction attachment, so the light-shielding layer may be damaged and the UV mask is disposable. Hence, it is necessary to store a large number of UV masks with different types, and thereby to provide a specific storage space for storing these UV masks in the industrial production, resulting in an enlarged space for the manufacture. Further, each UV mask is every expensive, so the manufacture cost of the display panel may increase.
Hence, there is an urgent need to provide an improved mask plate so as to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.